Food Safety

Regulations for food and drink businesses

All local businesses that serve food to the public are regulated by Mosman Council and the NSW Food Authority. We provide advice and approve new businesses, monitor food hygiene practices, do checks for contamination, follow up on customer requests and make sure business owners and their staffs comply with legislative requirements.

Mosman Council inspects around 150 premises annually in accordance with Council Food inspection program and the partnership with the NSW food Authority.

Council’s Environmental Health Officers are Authorised Officers under the Food Act 2003 and may inspect any retail food business that is believed to be used in connection with the handling or sale of food.

Inspections are carried out without prior notice to the food business and may be carried out at any reasonable time, which usually is during the businesses trading hours. It is an offence to obstruct an Authorised Officer in exercise of their functions under the Food Act.

The inspections focus on a wide range of issues including cleanliness, temperature control, hygiene and food handling practices, pest control, construction and maintenance of the premises and waste storage.

Where premises are found not to be at an acceptable standard, re-inspections may be required until standards are improved to an acceptable level. Food businesses are invoiced for all re-inspections – the fees for re-inspections may be found in Council’s current Schedule of Fees and Charges.

The NSW Food Authority publishes a register of penalty Notices which lists businesses that have breached or alleged to have breached NSW food safety laws. Publishing the lists gives consumers more information to make decisions about where they eat or buy food.

If you would like to apply as a mobile food/drink vendor, you will need to complete the standard Food Premises Notification Form. Submit the form to us and a Compliance Officer may contact you if we require more information about your notification.

Food laws in NSW require certain food businesses to have at least one trained Food Safety Supervisor (FSS). The aim of an FSS is to prevent individuals from becoming ill from food poisoning as a result of incorrect handling and preparation of food. This applies to food businesses who sell food that is:

ready-to-eat

potentially hazardous (requires temperature control) and

not sold and served in the supplier’s original packaging.

An FSS Certificate must be kept on the premises and produced for inspection on request by Council’s Environmental Health Officer. Some food businesses are exempt from this requirement and these can be found on the NSW Food Authority site – Food Safety Supervisor.